Funeral Mass for Rev. Peter McCahill

Parish Priest emeritus of St. Mungo’s, Greenock

 1. A priest has to be a servant and witness of the message of salvation. For that reason, St. Paul’s summary of the gospel he preached could not be a more appropriate context in which to cast the priestly ministry of our dear Father Peter, who has been called from this world. St. Paul says: “Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures.” For Paul, the announcement of the death and resurrection of Jesus was the kerygma; this is the epic message of salvation; this is the core of the Good News. This is the dramatic message which lights up the Easter season, which banishes the darkness of death, and which makes us able to see beyond Fr. Peter’s death to the light of the resurrection.

 2. Father Peter did not see himself in epic terms. He did not seek centre stage. He was a priest who quietly and effectively went about his work, earning the respect and winning the hearts of all those he served. Yet Fr. Peter was totally committed to the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus proclaimed so emphatically as the kerygma, as the message, by St. Paul. It’s like this: Father Peter loved the living Lord and gave his life willingly and generously to him in the priesthood. Wherever Peter served as a priest over the last 40 years, people will tell you how much they appreciated his goodness and faithfulness. Father Peter would be embarrassed if you said this, but that is epic, that is dramatic, that is heroic. We thank Fr. Peter for his faithful service to the message of the Gospel, and we commend him to the mercy and goodness of God. The best thing we can do in response to such a life is to give greater and fuller witness to the Gospel according to the demands of our own vocation as priests, religious and lay faithful.

 3. The Gospel today introduces us into the profound mystery of the relationship of Jesus to the Father. Possibly the key words of Jesus’ discourse are these: “You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” And Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, is the Son through whom we too are admitted to that relationship of love which is the mystery of the Triune God. Father Peter expressed himself in a simple and unpretentious way. His priestly life was one of straightforward and transparent faithfulness to God and to the Church. He was not one for fancy moves or fancy words. Yet he was a genuinely spiritual and prayerful man who was faithful to the tried and tested pillars of priestly spirituality: the Mass,  the sacraments, the Divine Office and the Rosary. He liked the liturgy to be well done. He responded to the sense of the sacred. If he was away on holiday, it was important for him to engage with the spirituality of these places, and he would be keen to visit the churches and shrines which gave him an experience of that. So the mystery of God’s presence was real for him and he lived it with an innocent simplicity, with a deep obedience and with a quiet joy.

 4. Although I had met him briefly in the past, I have known Father Peter only for the last 18 months since I became bishop, and I can see why this gentle unassuming big man was such a genial presence among his brother priests. A later vocation to the priesthood, he was ordained at 34 years of age. He gave up promising life prospects and made a firm decision to become a priest. He served the diocese of Paisley for the last 43 years. As Assistant Priest, he served in St. Aidan’s (Johnstone), St. Joseph’s (Greenock) and St. Conval’s (Linwood). As Parish Priest, he served in St. Peter’s, Glenburn and latterly in St. Mungo’s, Greenock. Even in retirement here at St. Laurence’s, he continued his priestly ministry until the Lord called him on Friday 20^th April. We thank and bless God for the life and ministry of this dedicated priest. We commend him to the goodness and love of God. We pray for his eternal rest. When St. Paul saw the end of his life approaching, he penned the words of today’s second reading, which seem most appropriate for Father Peter McCahill: “I have fought the good fight to the end. I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me…”  So be it. Amen! Alleluia!

St. Laurence’s, Greenock

Feast of Sts. Philip and James

3^rd May 2007